I have three versions of Arrival. Let me preface by saying I am not an audiophile. I have an old Polydor CD; a version that says Polar but I have no idea when or where it came from; and the most recent Deluxe version that I think everybody hates. Personally, the Polydor one is so trebly, to me and my burnt out ears, that its an uncomfortable listen. It does have good clarity. I prefer the one everyone hates, the brickwalled version. Its a more pleasant listening experience to me.
There is no good version of Arrival if you are an audiophile. It is too bright, and I have lots of versions including the recent half speed mastered Abbey Road 45 edition. It’s too bright and shrill and if they try and “fix” it I think it would just make the whole thing muddy. I think Michael Tretow was doing a lot of experimenting and in the end it adversely effected the over all sound. This would be corrected with The Album, proof he realized that what ever he was doing on Arrival didn’t likely end up sounding as good as he would have liked. Arrival is the only album in their entire catelogue that I feel was not really well recorded, but it wasn’t bad either, just for me a solid step down compared to any of their others, including the first. So, I would suggest stopping your search and just enjoy the music 9n this one case. Luckily, a lot to enjoy! One of their best albums imo.
The Deluxe Edition contains the same mastering as included on the CSR box (if I remember correctly). Frequency-wise, it sounds fine, but is was brickwalled to death...you are right: There is no good CD version available until now...
2001 Remaster = 1997 Remaster + additional noise reduction and slightly louder level = Jon Astley mastering. Besides his partially audible noise reduction on some fade outs and way too much compression on several tracks / several albums, I really like the tonality of his 1997 / 2001 remasters.
Not VOULEZ-VOUZ..it has nearly the same tonality as the Deluxe Edition.....simply compare it !!! SUPER TROUPER: You are right, but the entire production seems to be that way. Mr. Astley told me that he nearly used no EQ for that album when he did the transfers from the original mixdown tapes.
Oh really? I didn't know about that. I thought 2011 Deluxe sounds soft and natural and 2001 sounds unnatural and shrill.
Sometimes it's fun on the forum here...I remember that many people were complaining about the Astley remaster of VOULEZ-VOUZ, but highly recommended the DELUXE EDITION which was released some years later. I did an A/B comparison and both sounded nearly the same
For those in the US looking for the old mastering's, the 95 'colored face paint' discs carry the German Polydor's.
This is true, but you have to double-check the catalog numbers !!! There are also 1999 repressings available with the Jon Astley remasters !!! Same layout, same print, no bonustracks, but different catalog numbers !!! SUPER TROUPER has no dropout in the title track on the 1995 US CD. WATERLOO has two songs swapped.
Correct, the 99's inner tray art will showcase the albums with a blurb stating remasters. The 95's have a standard black tray.
Here we have my current list of the best non-remastered ABBA CDs (in MY opinion): RING RING (Polydor 843 642-2 / Polydor USA 42284 3642-2) -> best sounding version !!! Swedish POLAR from 1988 sounds dull and lifeless !!! WATERLOO (Polydor 831 596-2 / Spectrum Music 550 0342 / Polydor USA 42284 3643-2 / Polar POLCD-252) -> USA CD has two songs swapped !!! ABBA (Polar POLCD-262) -> no other pressing available with this superb mastering !!! Polydor CDs sound harsh, bright and noisy !!! ARRIVAL (Polydor 821 319-2 / Polydor USA 42282 1319-2 / Polydor Japan POCP-2204) -> none of them sounds perfect, but there is no other one... THE ALBUM (Polydor 821 217-2 / Polydor USA 42283 5832-2 / Polydor Japan POCP-2203) -> all CD versions suffer from distortion on the first four songs !!! VOULEZ-VOUS (Polydor 821 320-2 / Polydor USA 42282 1320-2 / Polydor Japan POCP-2206) -> very similar sound for all three versions !!! SUPER TROUPER (Polydor USA 42280 0023-2 / Polydor Japan POCP-2207 / Atlantic USA 16023-2) -> ATLANTIC mastering has more power !!! THE VISITORS (every old CD -> digital identical versions in Europe, Japan, USA...)
So is the earlier Japan Polydor also bright and noisy? Looked on Discogs and it dates the Japanese CD as 1986, the Europe Polydor with bonus tracks as 1987 and the Polar CD as 1988, the cheapest of which is £34, is that good value for money?
Japan Polydor CD for the 1975 album sounds nice, but it has a swapped song order (that always sucks...)...it has also the alternate "Man In The Middle" mix with the robot voice on the very last "...in the middle". Otherwise it is fine !!!
Ordered a repress of Polydor 800 011-2 today. Thanks for the info! Looking forward to listening on my headphones. One of my favourite albums.
If you don't mind loudness and some songs sounding a little dull, go for the 2001 remasters. They're cheap and easily available, and they're the best CD remasters for most ABBA albums (read: best remasters, not the best CDs overall!), with the exception of Voulez-Vous, Super Trouper and The Visitors. Get the "Deluxe Edition" versions of them, they're better (especially The Visitors Deluxe Edition which is almost as dynamic as the original CD and has all of the bonus tracks, including "You Owe Me One" and "I Am The City").
I personally recommend the Deluxe Edition of Voulez-Vous over the 2001 remaster because it's slightly more dynamic and features more bonus tracks, which everyone loves Super Trouper Deluxe Edition is also more dynamic and doesn't feature the brightened intro on "On and On and On". It also includes the proper, stereo mix of the extended version of "On and On and On", previously only available on The Complete Studio Recordings but as a mono, VHS sounding rip with all the additional compression and brick-walling added on top of the already bad sound (yuck!). The Visitors Deluxe Edition is simply the best remaster available, almost as dynamic as the original CD and featuring all of the tracks released after The Visitors, including "You Owe Me One" which is not on the 2001 remaster, and "I Am The City", previously only available on More ABBA Gold. The rest of the Deluxe Editions, however, are terrible with murdered, over-compressed sound.
The Waterloo Polar POLCD-252 sounds very different, darker and fuller (some may say duller) and, in my opinion, superior than the Polydor 843 643-2.
VISITORS Deluxe Edition is the WORST version !!! Taken from an analogue and damaged tape with swapped channels...
